Pictures from the Halloween party are up!

Jessie and Boone
Originally uploaded by Nareshe.

Wenches, goddesses, assassins, demons, buccaneers...the list goes on!  More in the party set.

This wins "cutest photo of the night", though. Awwwww!

Recipes: Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes and Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
From Allrecipes

Dead easy. Completely deadly. I garnished mine with chocolate-covered dried cherries, because I am like that.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
* 1 1/3 cups water
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 3 eggs
* 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
* 1 (16 ounce) can vanilla frosting (I used chocolate!)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs; mix well. Spoon batter by 1/4 cupfuls into paper-lined muffin cups. Spoon a rounded teaspoon of pie filling onto the center of each cupcake. Set remaining pie filling aside. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted on an angle toward the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost cupcakes; top with one cherry from pie filling. Serve additional pie filling with cupcakes or refrigerate or another use.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

So, so good. I would triple the amount of spices in this one; I used about 1.5 times the amount called for and they still don't quite have the flavor I was looking for. For mini-cupcakes, bake for about 15 minutes at 375.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed, cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
3/4 cup milk
Vanilla Butter-Cream Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 2 ½-inch muffin-pan cups, or line with paper liners.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg on piece of waxed paper.

Beat together butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, then pumpkin.

At low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk until smooth.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups, filling each two-thirds full.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan or on a wire rack 5 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto rack to cool.

Tint frosting with food coloring. Frost cupcakes. Decorate as desired, using fondant (tinted, rolled out, cut into shapes), licorice, toasted coconut and other candies.

Makes 20 cupcakes.


I frosted these with a spiced version of the the last cream cheese frosting recipe you'll ever need, which was awesome and easy.